Information Technology

In late September 2015, the Presidents of China and the United States reached a number of agreements on cyber security, cyber espionage, and cybercrime. They provide for a new high-level contact group as well as assurances to investigate and resolve complaints from each other. The agreements are important diplomatic breakthroughs, but they are relatively piecemeal when seen against the bigger picture. They may ultimately prove to be destructive if not followed up quickly by a more comprehensive agreement.

In February 2014, Chinese President Xi Jingping declared his intent to do everything necessary for China to become a cyber power. Since then Xi and his government have been hyperactive on all relevant fronts: political, legal, economic, organisational and diplomatic. The Chinese leadership’s attention became even more focused on cyber issues in May 2014 when the United States indicted five Chinese military personnel for cyber espionage involving commercial secrets of US-based corporations.

Telecommunication companies were up in arms in February after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) made net neutrality the law of the land by classifying broadband internet as a utility, seeming to ensure there would be no pay-to-play fast lanes.

Not so fast. As Verizon’s planned acquisition of AOL reminds us, there’s another way to cash in on giving certain content preferential treatment: buy it.

As China seeks to further boost the e-commerce sector, it is likely to attract new capital and create new jobs and entrepreneurs.

Recently, the State Council, China's cabinet, announced that it would boost the development of e-commerce by cutting red tape and liberalizing investment regulation in the sector. Reportedly, the new measures include a tax cut, simpler administrative procedures and a push for entrepreneurship.

The banking sector has witnessed many technological changes in recent years that offer more personalized services. The shift towards getting more digital just got more exciting with the introduction of many user-friendly technologies. As banks try to make banking quicker and secure, the option for digital innovations keeps getting more and more competitive. The first quarter of 2015 introduced some very interesting banking innovations that could revolutionize the banking experience for customers.

ASEAN is at the moment drifting aimlessly in cyberspace. But it could take advantage of its own rapid growth in internet penetration and the harsh cyber-security lessons of other nations, to create an inclusive, coordinated and adaptive ASEAN Cyber-Resilience Blueprint — one that could be an international exemplar.

Over 3 million South Koreans have downloaded a Germany-based smartphone messenger app, Telegram, while 400,000 users of Kakao Talk — the nation’s most widely used messenger app — terminated their account, in protest against government attempts to crackdown on dissenters.